The Price of a Soul
by Animegeek3336
Summary: Tomo Takino who is now a full fledged interpol agent is assigned to a strange string of murders in Europe.
1. Chapter 1

Eyes. Hands. Watching. Grabbing. Running. Darkness. Fear. A knife flashing down in a bright deadly arc. Blood. Death. Release. A final peace.

The vampire Alucard stood up slowly from the latest victim dusting himself as he did so. Anyone looking at him then would see a strong flash of hunger and if anyone had also been listening closely enough to him they would also have heard three words uttered with such hunger that any sane creature would lose all thoughts other than those of fear. "So it begins." Alucard said as, laughing quietly, he stepped back into the shadows.

The Price of a Soul: Chapter 1: Murders on a road paved with blood

"Bloody hell!" Daren yelled as the new agent, Tomo Takino, from Interpol ran about the crime scene like a kid at a candy store. 'Damn it why can't any normal people join Interpol' he though to himself while the female agent ran around asking questions left and right. 'And she's supposed to be one of the best agents they have? Ha! Give me a fucking break!'

"What's the cause of death, police-boy?" came a voice, breaking him out of his reverie. He looked up to see the face of Agent Takino staring down at him with curiosity in her bright eyes.

"What… uh… right! Sorry, it was a vampire and don't call me police-boy!" Daren stammered.

"You don't really expect me to believe that vampire shit do ya?" She asked incredulously.

"What are you…"

"You!" came voice seemingly out of nowhere. "What are **_you_** doing here Tomo?" Tomo looked and pinpointed the voice as coming from a tall reporter with glasses and long brown hair.

"Yomi! Is that you? I didn't know you were an international reporter," she said as she ran towards the taller girl.

"Baka! I told you that I had in all those letters and e-mails I sent you!" Yomi shouted as she hit the dark haired girl in the head with her microphone.

"OW! I see you're just as mean and fat as well"

"Fat! How dare you!"

"Hahahaha! Fatty! Fatty!"

Daren watched as the taller girl named "Yomi" quivered in anger as Tomo pranced around. Then, suddenly, causing even more confusion Yomi was giggling uncontrollably and Tomo was on the ground laughing both with tears streaming down their faces.

"I hate to say it… ha ha… but I missed you Tomo." Yomi said trying to regain control of her voice.

"Aw… c'mon you know you (gasp) love me." Tomo answered earning a half-hearted bonk on the head from Yomi.

"Anyways…" Yomi said as she recomposed herself. "Of course vampires exist you knucklehead, … well… at least they exist in Europe. They don't seem to like attacking Japan or North America as much despite the fact that they aren't as defended."

"What are you rambling about, vampires can't possibly … " Tomo started.

"Of course vampires exist you stupid little girl" came a dark female voice from behind. Tomo spun around to find a tall woman with large round glasses and long chestnut hair glaring at her heatedly.

"Whoa look at her glasses they're almost bigger than yours Yomi! Ha mmph" the energetic girl was quickly stifled by both Yomi and the policeman Daren.

"Holy shit do you have some sort of fucking death wish?" the policeman whispered in her.

"Seriously Tomo you just insulted one the most powerful leaders in the Protestant church. That is Lady Integral leader of the renowned Hellsing said too have one the most powerful vampires under control." Yomi berated covering Tomo's mouth with her hand.

"So what?" Said Tomo breaking free of both of them in a surprising burst of strength. "1. I am considered one of the greatest martial artists in the world and 2. I already told you vampires DON'T EXIST. Geez Yomi and you're supposed to be the smart one."

"Seras!" Lady Intergal called out suddenly, startling all three of them.

"Yes ma'am!" answered a woman with short blond hair, straightening to stand at attention a few feet away.

"Prove to this ignorant woman that vampires exist." Integra ordered pointing at the bewildered Tomo.

"Another one! Man she's the fourth one this morning. Do I really have to?" Seras whined but came to stand in front of Tomo nonetheless. "Okay here's the deal, I will fight you but I only get to use fingers."

"Okay your funeral." Tomo answered cockily accepting the challenge and getting into position.

"Ready? Fight!" and with that said Seras leapt towards Tomo to hit her only to find that the girl in question was five feet behind her blowing raspberries at her. Seras turned and leapt at her again, growling and with her full speed and precision behind the blow only to find again that Tomo was inexplicably five feet behind her.

"Ha ha! Loser! Loser! Ha ha! Now it's my turn." The energetic girl threw herself feet first at her opponent connecting with the pit of her stomach. However, instead of the normal feeling of folding flesh beneath her feet it felt like her feet had connected with a brick wall. "Ow! Ow! Damn, what the hell!" Tomo exclaimed flying backward and landing gingerly on her stinging feet. She looked up to glare at the supposed vampire only to feel an extreme pain on her face as two fingers landed squarely on her forehead.

"Ha! Take that." Seras yelled victoriously as the arrogant woman flew backward. Her gleeful smile turned into one of shock as Tomo twirled expertly into a flip to land neatly on her feet.

"That wouldn't have hurt a fly!" Tomo shouted laughing merrily. Her face turned frighteningly serious however as she said, " Now how about I actually try?" With that she launched forward landing in front of the young fledgling vampire throwing a punch and hitting Seras in the jaw causing her to stumble backwards. Seras with her vision spinning slightly tried to get her bearings straight but Tomo wasn't about to let her rest connecting a solid punch to Seras' gut and a spin kick to the side of her head. As she was getting ready to start another combo a black shape suddenly phased out of the ground causing her to jump back in surprise.

"Whatareyoudoingplayingwiththis human, police-girl!" the black shape bellowed coming out of the ground.

"O-oh uh master hello I-I was just f-following L-Lady Integral's orders." Seras stuttered as her master Alucard materialized out of the ground.

"Hey!" Tomo yelled at Alucard. "How dare you intrude? I was having fun!"

"How dare_ I _foolish women I am Alucard and I could devour you with a snap of my fingers!" the vampire shouted angrily back at her.

"Well, Picard, …

"That's Alucard!"

"Whatever! That woman, Seras, or whatever still hasn't proved to me that vampires truly exist, SO if you would … and what the hell are you laughing at four-eyes!" Tomo turned to point at Yomi's direction where she had heard a soft laughing coming from behind her.

"What are you talking about Tomo I am not laughing at anything." Yomi answered huffily and indeed Tomo could see that Yomi's face was deadly serious.

"Well than who was the fuck was it?"

"It was me." Came a soft female voice from Tomo's left. Tomo whirled around to see a tall figure in an ankle length black cloak and hood. Although the hood shrouded the face by the chest size there was no mistaking that this person was female. The most alarming detail however was the extremely long sword that was slung across her back. "You haven't changed much have you Tomo." The person spoke again startling Tomo. "What? Do you not recognize me?" Tomo shook her head dumbly in answer. "That is understandable I have changed much." With that she removed her hood and revealed all too familiar face.

Afterword: Hahahahaha!A cliff hanger. Evil isn't it. Anyways this is my first fan fic that I have really worked on so don't hesitate to review mercifully but please constructive criticism. Yes I know some of the characters may seem a bit OOC but remeber this is3 or4 years after the series have ended.I will try to update as soon as possible but i give no guarantees.


	2. Chapter 2: Pigtails?

The Price of a Soul- Chapter 2: Pigtails?

Disclaimer- I sorta forgot this last time but oh well. (sweat drop) Anyways as per the standard I do not personally own any of the characters from Hellsing or Azumanga Daioh.

Warning- Rated M for strong language, heavy violence and occasional mentioning of breasts. (Eventually)

Recap:

"Well than who the fuck was it?"

"It was I." Came a soft female voice from Tomo's left. Tomo whirled around to see a tall figure in an ankle length black cloak and hood. Although the hood shrouded the face by the chest size there was no mistaking that this person was female. The most alarming detail however was the extremely long sword that was slung across her back. "You haven't changed much have you Tomo." The person spoke again startling Tomo. "What? Do you not recognize me?" Tomo shook her head dumbly in answer. "That is understandable I have changed much." With that she removed her hood and revealed an all too familiar face.

-Now on with the show!

"Sakaki!" Yomi yelled in surprise at the sudden realization at who the person was.

"What? Seriously!" Tomo asked in alarm. "Well I'll be damned. You really have changed haven't you "?

Sakaki nodded in agreement for she had changed significantly. The Sakaki that her friends may have remembered from high school was gone. Her once soft face that had at one time stared longingly at the cats that would play in courtyard was now sharp and focused. Her eyes now held that self-same focused look as well as a far off look of sadness.

"What the hell happened to you anyways?" Yomi questioned.

"Yeah and what the hell is up that gigantic sword?" Tomo chimed in.

"All in good time my friends for now I am merely here to give you some news that may or may not help with your investigation." Sakaki answered calmly.

"What?"

"Seriously."

"You're kidding me!"

"Well spill it girl."

Suddenly, Sakaki found herself not only surrounded by Tomo and Yomi (that she had expected) but also a camera crew, Integra Hellsing, and Daren.

"Calm down my friends, please. I will tell but first could we go somewhere a bit more comfortable."

Everyone stared at her in awe for a moment then Yomi managed to speak.

"There's a café down the street." She said, obviously still somewhat freaked out by Sakaki.

"Sounds nice. Let's all meet there in about 20 minutes." Sakaki agreed as she started to walk away.

"Wait! Wait just a minute. Why are we meeting in such a long time?" Daren said, speaking the question on everyone's mind.

"I have to make arrangements with my airplane pilot. I think I'm going to be staying a bit longer than I had originally intended to."

"You have your own personal pilot!" Tomo shouted incredulously.

"You could say that." She replied enigmatically, walking away from the group and throwing her hood back over her head coolly as she did.

"Damn she may look a little different but she's still as cool as ever wouldn't you say Yomi" Tomo said breaking what would have been a slightly awkward.

"That's for sure." Yomi answered.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"Well seeing how much Sakaki has changed makes me wonder how everybody else from high school are doing."

"I've been thinking about that too and actually, I talked to Kagura a while back. She became gym teacher." Yomi said.

"We pretty much expected that, but if you think about it for all we know Osaka could have become the head of some nefarious cult or something like that."

"Osaka?" Yomi said looking at Tomo incredulously.

"Well yeah. I mean she and Chiyo are the only two who we lost touch with and don't know what they're doing."

"I couldn't see Chiyo-chan leading an evil cult."

"Well she could be leading it with her evil cuteness." Tomo countered thinking back on the penguin costume she had worn for their last culture festival.

"C'mon Tomo this _Chiyo-chan_ we're talking about here. She doesn't have a single evil bone in her body."

"Uh… you know…while this is all fine and dandy ladies," said Daren interrupting the philosophical conversation on cuteness and it's dangers "We should probably start heading to the café now."

"What are talking about? We have 20 minutes or weren't you listening to Sakaki baka." Tomo said smirking at the "ignorant" policeman.

"Actually Tomo," said Yomi who had already gotten into her news station's van "We have about ten minutes now, due to our little 'discussion'."

"What? Really? Damn! Well what are you waiting for Daren! Hurry up get the friggin' car!" Tomo shouted berating the poor policeman. Daren quickly ran off muttering under his breath about how his job should include hazard pay.

"Man! It's so hard to get good help these days" Tomo muttered as the police car drove up.

Tomo and Daren arrived at the café about 15 minutes later Tomo berating Daren about his driving skills and how big of a pushover he was on the road as they walked in. They walked in to find Sakaki sitting at the table across from Yomi, Integra Hellsing and a man that Tomo didn't recognize. Integra and Yomi both looked rather pissed at having to wait so long but Sakaki and the mystery guy looked deep in conversation about something.

"Well its about bloody time!" Integra and Yomi yelled simultaneously.

"Shut up, it isn't my fault if this baka happens to be the slowest damn driver in the whole damn world!" Tomo answered also shouting.

"You made me go 80 in a 30 mile an hour zone!" Daren defended.

"I told you to go 90."

"We got stopped by three policemen as it was!"

"Calm down friends. It is of little importance when she arrives as long as she does." Sakaki stated, calmly breaking up the ensuing fight.

"Fine but who's this loser." Tomo asked sitting down and gesturing her finger towards the person who Sakaki had been talking to when she had come in.

"The name's Leshrac," The man answered a little taken aback at her disrespectful tone "and I happen to be Miss Sakaki's friend and plane driver."

"Leshrac?" Tomo said, breaking out in uproarious laughter, "What the heck kind of name is that?"

"It's _my _name you Bonkura, and it also happens to be a name I like" Leshrac growled, viscously.

"Who cares about whether you like his name or not, I just want this information so hurry up and tell us!" said Integra starting to get frustrated with the frequent interruptions.

"I agree," Sakaki said, instantly claiming everyone's attention "Apparently last week in Chicago there was an attack similar to this however it wasn't until about 6 hours ago that the victim turned into a ghoul. There was also another thing weird about the ghoul. Some of the policemen were paralyzed by something they described as a 'cuteness overload' and there were also some policemen saying that they thought they saw the outline of a penguin costume, but the weirdest thing of all was that anyone who saw the ghoul said that it had two pigtails on top of it's head."

"What!" both Yomi and Tomo yelled in unison.

"But Chiyo-chan couldn't have been…" Tomo said with a horrified look.

"Don't look so sad Tomo it wasn't her," Sakaki said Tomo and Yomi to sigh in relief, "However both she and Osaka disappeared about a month ago and no one has heard from them in at least that long."

"So how do you know they're still alive?" Yomi asked with a dispairing look on her face again.

"Well I contacted some reliable sources I knew from college and learned that a steady stream of money is being taken from their accounts, well Chiyo's account at least." Sakaki answered again, Yomi and Tomo looking visibly relieved.

"Is that all the information you have for us?" Lady Integral snapped, exasperated at what had proved to be a seemingly useless source of an equally useless bit of information.

"Isn't that enough?" Yomi answered starting to get annoyed at the eccentric woman's amazing stupidity.

"Now hold it Yomi." Sakaki said stopping another possible explosion, "She has never met Chiyo-chan and can't possibly understand the significance if there is any."

"Hurry up and fill us in then!" Seras blurted.

"All _you_ need to know is that one of our friends from high school, named Chiyo-chan, used to wear two pigtails." Tomo answered, bitterly glaring at the young vampire.

"But that would mean that she's somehow involved in this." Daren said, entering the conversation.

"Oh good job police-boy!" Tomo said sarcastically.

"Beware." Came a voice from the corner behind the group's table.

"What the hell?" cried Tomo jumping away from the table.

"Beware she whose intelligence is rivaled by none." Crooned the voice again as a man with long blond hair came stumbling out of the corner. "The astronaut will bring doom to you all."

"You know… I think it's about time we took this conversation somewhere private." Daren said slightly freaked out by the random intrusion.

"Agreed!" answered everybody else in unison as they slowly filed out of the café.

"So now where are we supposed to go?" Tomo asked after they had all left the café.

"I am returning to Hellsing HQ and unless you find more information, I could care less what you idiots do." Integra answered getting into the limousine that had pulled up.

"Hey! How about you fill us in about what you've been doing since high school Sakaki." Tomo said.

"We need to report back to Interpol." Daren interjected grabbing Tomo and walking over to the police car.

"You go report alone police-boy I want to find out what happened to Sakaki." Tomo argued brushing Daren off.

"Hmph. Fine but if I'm not helping you if the chief wants to know where you are." Daren huffed as he stalked off to the car and sped away.

"Hah! Uppity little baka." Tomo laughed as Daren drove off.

"Shall we go then?" Sakaki asked.

"Alright. Where's Yomi?" Tomo asked looking around for the familiar glasses, locating them talking to man in a news truck. "Hey four-eyes get over here or we're leaving without you."

"Just a sec," Yomi yelled back, obviously annoyed at being interrupted, and turned back to the van. "Alright, I'll just send the tape to you later after I review it, since my friend doesn't seem to have any patience."

"Whatever you say." The man said and drove off.

"Alright, now that Tomo has officially started pissing me off _again_. Where are we going?" Yomi asked as she walked back over to where Tomo and Sakaki were standing.

"Back to my hotel." Sakaki said simply as started walking down the sidewalk.

Afterword:

heh heh heh heh "Back to my hotel" bow chica bow wow.

Anywhays I promise that I will try to update sooner with the next chapter but it will still take a while all the same. Next chapter Sakaki's traumatic past is revealed as well as the usual hyperactive antics.

A couple of comments to my great reviewers:

-To all those who liked the story: Thank you and I hope you liked the update.

-To "The Zalrus"- Sorry no giant woman.

-To "Section 13"- That's the point of the story. You add angst to characters that were previously thought as primarily comedic and vice-versa with those characters thought mainly serious, in a nutshell, severely clashing genres allow fanfic writers to add their own dimensions to well known characters. Is it ooc? Yes, a little bit, but nothing new would ever get done if we stayed in the box.

-Lastly, to all those who have read both chapters, keep reading and commenting. The main villain may surprise you. (hahahhahahahahahahahah! continued evil genius laughter)


	3. Chapter 3: Of Wrongs and Retributions

Chapter 3: Of Wrongs and Retribution

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Azumanga Daioh or Hellsing. Then again what is ownership but a silly social convention… but seriously I don't own either series their respective writers and artists do.

Author's Note: Holy shit! A new chapter is finally written. I wish to apologize for taking so long but writer's block, school, part time jobs and a general malaise of laziness takes a lot of time to manage. However I have battled through my own underachieving ways and would now like to present the third chapter of "The Price of Soul".

Sakaki walked into her dimly lit hotel room, quietly ignoring the sound of her old friends arguing behind her. With a small grunt of effort, she slid the heavy blade that hung from her shoulders and laid it in the corner. She removed her long trench coat, revealing a white tank top and cargo pants, and carefully hung it on a wire hanger in the closet. Gracefully Sakaki sat down in a padded chair by the small coffee table near the window. Closing her eyes and relaxing for a second she stiffened slightly as she heard a small gasp and realized both Yomi and Tomo had fallen silent. Smiling sadly, she opened her eyes and looked up at her friends, their bodies bathed in the reddish light of the gently setting sun. She knew what they were looking at and that she would have to explain it and many more things before this night was done. Closing the blinds, she flicked on the table lamp and spoke in a tired and strained voice. "Sit friends, make yourself comfortable"

Tomo and Yomi jumped a little, startled by the sound of Sakaki speaking. Yomi, flushing a bright red, and embarrassed at having been caught staring, decided to try and salvage any amount of dignity she had left and sat in a chair near the TV. She inspected the hotel room as she avoided looking at Sakaki. The suite was a rather nice one, and Yomi thought it must have cost Sakaki a pretty penny. New age impressionist art hung on the walls and a mini fridge sat in the corner quietly humming away. The bed was queen size and of a clean, made up appearance, adorned with warmly colored red and purple sheets. All in all, the room gave off a homely and comfortable aura, the only thing out of place being the large green duffle bag sitting next to the bed, presumably Sakaki's over night things. Suddenly. Yomi was roughly broken from her self-led tour of the room by the sight of Tomo wildly jumping onto the bed. "Wheee! Yomi you should really try this."

"Agh! Tomo stop that! That's rude." Yomi quickly exclaimed, jumping up and smacking Tomo on her head. A gentle laugh came from Sakaki as she watched them roll around on the bed, Yomi in the pink, knee length skirt and suit outfit she wore during her television reports, and Tomo in her bright blue police uniform. After a few minutes, both Tomo and Yomi collapsed backwards on the bed. Hair and clothing a ruffled mess, the two lightly panted trying to calm down, Tomo letting out a breathy giggle every couple seconds. A silence, not quite awkward but certainly not comfortable, filled the room, lasting for a few aching seconds. Suddenly, Tomo sat straight up, looking at Sakaki with a strange mix of a puzzled raised eyebrow and a wary squint.

"Sakaki…" Tomo began, voice somewhat less confident than usual, " Well… um… ah hell! I'll just ask! What the fuck is up with…"

"… The scar…" Sakaki finished quietly, grimacing just a little. A pain-filled sigh past through her lips and she unconsciously brought her hand to begin tracing the marred flesh. The scar tissue stretched grotesquely from just under the base of the neck to just past the arc of her shoulder and it glowed an angry red, accentuated even more by the lamp light. The tension in the air thickened considerably, as Sakaki seemed to lose herself in her own thoughts. Yomi sat up as well adjusting her glasses watching Sakaki with interest; reluctant to break the spell the tall woman seemed to be caught in. Tomo, on the other hand, had no such reservations.

"YES! It's so cool! How'd you get it? Did you battle some awesome deadly ninja assassin? Or were you in some crazy ass battle for the fate of the world?!" The energetic Interpol agent exclaimed, bouncing about excitedly on the bed. Sakaki jolted up looking at the other two women with a look of such intense sadness and betrayal that Tomo quickly shut up and both of them gulped. Sakaki shook herself, and placed a soft but clearly fake smile on her face, she'd given up crying about the past long ago, and she certainly wouldn't start again here.

"All right…" Sakaki spoke again, voice barely above a whisper "This…" She again traced the reddened tissue "is a reminder, a reminder of what I've lost, and of the evil in this world. The scar was given to me by a dear friend, who's no longer with me, to show me who I am, and why I must continue to fight…" Sakaki paused again, eyes glazed over as if absorbed in some other time. The silence was deafening as both Tomo and Yomi waited on bated breath, anxious to hear the rest of the story. With a deep shaky breath, Sakaki looked up once more and continued her speech.

"Right out of high school… I was a very naïve girl. I didn't yet know the evils this world possessed and had no idea what some people could do. One night I was walking back to my apartment… and I was ambushed. From the dark, three men attacked me and attempted to force themselves on me. They had removed my clothes and beaten me up pretty bad, but just when it seemed like they would succeed in their rape, Maya came out of nowhere. She attacked my assailants and actually bit and clawed at their… equipment."

"Maya! So she was good after all!" Tomo exclaimed interrupting Sakaki and earning herself a small bonk on the head from Yomi. "Jeez four-eyes! That hurt! Didn't have ta hit me so hard… " Tomo grumbled, glaring at the girl next to her. Yomi glared right back then nodded to Sakaki who chuckled softly and went on with her account of the events.

"Heh, yes well something snapped in me that night. For a week, after I was despondent, and the only creature able to approach me was Maya. The world was suddenly a harsh and dirty place. Then one day, something in my thought process had changed. I decided that there was evil in this world and it needed to be fought against and removed. However, I realized that police, at least normal ones, were useless in this fight, no offense Tomo." At this Tomo snorted and waved her off, throwing in a small joke about her own most recent local law enforcement experience with Daren. Sakaki smiled, and got up, getting a small glass from the table, talking as she went to the restroom and filled it with water.

"Maya never strayed, staying by my side while I followed this new path of mine. I started learning martial arts, combining various forms to create a style that matched my own abilities. A year after I had started this quest of mine, I started taking down local gangs and criminals. I know what you're thinking Tomo, no I wasn't a superhero, more a vigilante." Sakaki took a small sip from her water catching her breath before moving forward. "As my skills grew, so did Maya who quickly grew to the size of a medium-sized dog. She often joined me on missions, helping me when possible. All was going well… until one particular mission I fell into a trap, and Maya attempted to rescue me. The enemy, a particularly nasty gang from the Kyoto region…they…" Sakaki stopped, shaking lightly, memories flooding through her head at a frightening pace. The other two women exchanged worried glances and quickly stood up, walking to the clearly troubled raven-haired beauty, placing their hands on her shoulders. Yomi was the first to speak up, trying to comfort Sakaki.

"I-Its ok Sakaki, you don't have to continue if you don't want to" She whispered in a low voice filled with concern. "The story isn't worth telling of it is causing you pain"

"Yeah!" Tomo intelligently chimed in, trying to use her energy more than her brainpower to cheer up her friend. Sakaki shook her head, waved off her friends, and lifted the cup of water to her lips, taking another shaky gulp.

"N-no. Thank you friends but I am fine. This is a story that must be told, for my own sake as much as yours." Sakaki sighed; willing herself to stop the accursed shivering her body had started as soon as she had begun reliving the events of that night. " This gang captured Maya. I pursued, but my movements had been slowed by a leg injury I sustained. Still, I tracked them down. I was overjoyed when I first arrived, there was Maya standing, unharmed, and alone in the room. I stumbled forward, but I should've been more cautious…Maya… attacked me. My greatest and sometimes only true friend, pounced on me ripping open my shoulder giving me the wound which would eventually turn into the scar you see today. I was broken, my world shattered beyond belief. I couldn't understand it. Maya eventually left, her and the gang leaving me for dead, but as she walked out the door, she looked back and I could see the pain in her eyes."

"That fucking cat leaving at the first sign of trouble to save herself!" Tomo growled angrily, hands clenched in angry fists. Grinding her teeth together she continued to ramble "And that god damn mother fucking gang. Why first thing I do when I get back to Interpol is getting a team sent out to destroy them,"

"That is a wonderful sentiment…" Sakaki whispered smiling grimly " But the gang has already been destroyed. I made sure of it myself. All that remains of it is their leader, who has since gone into hiding taking Maya with him. Also, please do not blame Maya, she easily could've killed me but she didn't. Since the incident I learned she had a freak chip placed in her. If you didn't know, the chip exponentially increases the strength and abilities of the user. With this particular chip however, it also robs them of their emotions and forces them to follow the orders of the chips owner. Maya had only just enough control over her own actions to not kill me. I have sworn though that one day I'll free her, even if it means myself or she dies in the process."

The room stood silent as Sakaki's tale finished. Her faced glowed with steely determination, any fear or sadness gone and replaced by hope and a sense of justice. Yomi watched her friend not sure if she should be happy and supportive or just scared by this determined and more than a little vengeful Sakaki. Tomo, for once, was also silent, a look of deep thought that looked very unnatural on her normally care free features.

"So that leaves one last thing needing to be explained." Tomo stated, causing both Sakaki and Yomi to look up at her surprised. Tomo grinned widely, and pointed at the long sheathed sword standing in the corner. Sakaki laughed, a genuine smile gracing her features for the first time since she had started telling the story of her recent past.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to inquire about that Tomo. While I was training, I largely neglected weapons in general. They're a little too gruesome in my opinion. During my travels though, I befriended a weapon master by the name of Saito. He insisted I train myself in at least one style so at the very least if it were needed I would have it. Better to have it and not need it, than to not have it and be left wanting is what he said. After much debate we decided on meshing a few styles together and that my weapon of choice would be that sword you see there" At this, Sakaki also motioned towards the blade, its thin black sheath glinting dully, traditional non descript wooden handle just peaking out of it. " My training complete, Saito gave me the sword as a gift. His reasoning was that 'its long slender body and beautiful arc, along with the simple delicate loveliness of its entirety' matched me perfectly. Heh, he always did fancy himself a poet."

Sakaki sighed, and finished off her water, glancing suspiciously at her friends who were unusually silent. Both women, Interpol agent and reporter, had a similar look of awe and astonishment on their face. Their eyes the size of dinner plates, their mouths gaped and gulped comically, the perfect impression of a fish. Tomo, ever mentally alert, was the first to speak. "That's… so… COOL!"

That one statement, however simple, seemed to shatter the serious tone that had dominated the room and conversation. All three friends broke out laughing, Yomi laughing at Tomo, Tomo laughing at herself (and to a lesser extent Yomi) and Sakaki just laughing to laugh. The merriment went on for several minutes, releasing the pressure the stressful day had pushed upon all three.

-Well there ya go. Chapter Three. Hope you like it, I know the style is a bit different from when I started but I think its better. As usual feel free to leave constructive criticism and reviews. I appreciate all the feedback I can get. I might even update more frequently this time. =P


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